Perhaps the simplest method of forming a stylized, three-dimensional object, such as a mask, is simply to carve the mask out of a suitable material, such as wood. Once the shape of the object has been developed, any desired texture or art work, such as paint, may be added to the object's exterior. Thus, for example, many masquerade-type masks and other three-dimensional objects are formed by simply molding a plastic or latex material to a detailed three-dimensional surface and painting the convex exterior of the three-dimensional surface using a silk screening or similar process.
Early masks and other three-dimensional objects were carved from wood, with engravings or other art work added to the exterior of the mask for additional artistic effect. This task, however, has been greatly simplified in recent years with the advent of plastics and other synthetic compounds. Such material may be suitably molded and dried, producing the desired three-dimensional object, such as a mask. Other materials require a precipitated chemical reaction during the molding process, to produce a rigid material from one that was originally soft or liquid. Alternatively, many such plastics exist as hard, rigid materials at room temperature, and are heated to allow the material to be deformed, and then cooled so that the deformed material regains its rigidity as a molded three-dimensional object. These processes are currently used to manufacture a vast number of goods used in contemporary living.
It is not uncommon for color and other art work to be added to these plastics, either before the molding procedure, or afterwards. For example, where a uniformly colored plastic is desired, the plastic is typically colored by a dye, which is added prior to the molding procedure. Alternatively, art work seen upon the exterior of the plastic is typically added either before or after the molding process has been completed as is frequently done, for example, in the manufacture of plastic-based masquerade-type masks, referred to above.
Relatively recently, procedures have been developed which allow stylized art work to be added to a plastic prior to a molding process. Typically, this procedure is used with hard plastics and synthetics which allow the art work to survive a heat-treatment procedure, which is used to mold and form these materials. Since the temperature break down of the art work, due to the chemical constituency of the inks employed in such processes, is higher than the temperature required to soften and deform the plastics, the art work survives the heat-treatment procedure. Often, this procedure is assisted by a vacuum-formation process. Using such a process, one may cause a heat-treated sheet of plastic to be sucked against a die in skin-tight conforming relation, and then cooled in that position. Once the plastic has been deformed to the desired three-dimensional shape, it may be removed from the die that was used to deform the plastic, and trimmed.
These newer procedures generally employ a silk screen or lithographic process to apply the desired art work to flat sheets of plastic prior to molding. As such, these procedures have proven ideal for mass-production, as large rolls of plastic sheets may be used to create large quantities of the same item, which are simply cut and trimmed from the sheets after the deformation process, to yield the finished product.
These procedures have enabled near-effortless production of thousands of identical products, using a assembly-line techniques. For example, a particular lithographic or silk-screen design may be repeatedly used many thousands of times, assisted by automated vacuum-forming machinery, which rapidly molds and cuts the desired stylized, three-dimensional object from rolls of plastic.
However, the foregoing procedures are not without their limitations. In particular, there exists no practical method of stylizing desired three-dimensional objects which are intended to be unique. For example, the silk screen and lithographic processes described are cost-feasible only when large quantities of the desired objects are created.
Also, one purpose of creating stylized three-dimensional objects is to imitate real life objects. For example, where masquerade-type masks are concerned, it is sometimes desirable to produce masks that resemble the appearances of contemporaries. However, the silk screening and lithographic processes described do not lend themselves readily to producing complicated art work. Since the silk screen and lithographic designs need time for creation, one's design thoughts cannot be created in real time, and error in creating the silk screen or lithographic designs detracts from realistic imitation.
In addition, the heat-treatment of pre-stylized materials, such as plastics and synthetics, results in distortion of the printed image during the deformation process. Thus, creating the silk screen and lithographic designs involves some labor in predicting and accounting for distortion in the actual design itself, so that the finished product accurately bears the desired art work.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that there exists a definite need for an apparatus and method which allows the practical, low-cost production of stylized, three-dimensional objects in real time. In the case of one particular example, discussed above, there has existed a need for a device and procedure that would allow the construction of masquerade-type mask bearing the appearance of contemporary figures, yet not be labor intensive or require extensive artistic design.
Also, there has existed a need for an apparatus and method which allows for practical, low cost production of unique objects, and that would not require, for example, a labor intensive design when only a single product is requested. Additionally, it would be all the better if an apparatus or method could provide for accurate replication of art work, and eliminate error inherent in manually imitating desired art work, or in labor-intensive design to compensate for distortion to the art work caused during the deformation process.
The current invention satisfies these needs and provides for ready manufacture of stylized, three-dimensional objects through utilization of pre-deformation art work.